As to the food, you have probably been to restaurants that claim to serve “Southwestern” food, that Mexican-tinged celebration of the chile pepper, but you haven’t really tasted Southwestern until you’ve had it in places like Arizona and Texas. It seems to be on every corner in Phoenix, but make sure you don’t limit yourself to chain restaurants when it comes to sampling the real thing: look for the little neighborhood places for authentic Southwestern.

As to activities in Phoenix, be sure and check out the Desert botanical Garden at Papago Park, billed as the world’s largest outdoor collection of desert plants. Also, swing by the Deer Valley Rock Art Center, home to over 1500 Native American rock etchings created up to 5000 years ago by these ancient people.

If you are active, there is great mountain biking and hiking in the hills and mountains around Phoenix, although you definitely won’t want to do this during at least half the year when it is simply too hot. “It’s a dry heat” as the locals say, but even dry heat is unbearably uncomfortable if temperatures are high enough!

Phoenix is one of those American cities that has a distinctive flavor drawn from its location in the desert as well as its proximity to Mexico. It’s a huge metropolis, but with a little exploration you certainly can encounter the real Phoenix and its people.